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9Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, Former President Trump, Henry Heimuller, Joe Biden, Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden’s dogs, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
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Chinese People Wage A 20 Hour Battle To Save This Whale
Chinese Rescue A Massive Sperm Whale As the tide went out, a 62-foot-long whale was left lying on its side on a mudflat, it was in danger of suffocating under its own weight or dying of dehydration. These whales are deep-sea hunters that routinely hunt for prey in the frigid waters more than a mile below the ocean surface. The air temperature in Ningbo peaked at about 66 degrees Fahrenheit on April 19. Even though that isn't hot for a human, temperature regulation is different for sperm whales. So Heat is among the greatest dangers to a stranded sperm whale.
Whale blubber keeps internal body heat in and leads to overheating if the whale cannot get rid of the heat another way. Getting rid of body heat is done in a range of ways, including water contact with the skin, especially at thinner areas, like flukes and flippers, and very vascular areas, like the tongue. It is not possible for the whale to do this when it is out of the water.
Local authorities attempted a rescue with five boats, but the whale was too large to move. Volunteers used buckets to douse the whale with water as they waited for the tide to rise. Finally, at 10 p.m. local time, the water rose enough for a tugboat to pull the whale deeper into the ocean, At 5:30 a.m. local time on April 20, authorities were able to cut the ropes towing the whale, and the animal began swimming independently. Yippee!!
Given its size, the whale was probably an adult male. That was likely a blessing: Sperm whale females and juveniles live in pods. When a female, calf or young male in a pod strands, the rest of the pod may follow it, drawn by the stranded whale's distress cries. The result is often mass death. In the early 1970s, there was a stranding of 43 sperm whales along the Oregon coast. Not a single animal survived. Adult males, live alone. That means the adult male in Ningbo also stranded alone, limiting the damage to the population as a whole.
Sometimes whales strand their selves because they are sick, or have messed up sonar. But when a healthy whale strands its self the stranding itself may damage the organs beyond repair. The sperm whale circulatory system isn't designed to work on land. A stranded animal's tissues may start deteriorating, and the longer the animal is out of the water, the more damage it may sustain. What happens for these animals is, their individual organs start the process of dying, but the whole animal doesn't die until days later.
Sometimes whales loose the track of time when hunting for food in shallower waters and get stranded in the low water as the tide recedes. Because sperm whales travel so far and dive so deep, it's unlikely that humans will ever hear from the stranded Ningbo whale again, unless it does die and the tides and currents happen to carry it back to shore. Even if the animal dies at sea, though, it will nurture new life. Dead whales eventually land on the ocean bottom — a phenomenon called "whale fall.” There, they become a bonanza for strange creatures, such as hagfish and bone-eating worms. They'll be a source of nutrients that continues to give to that community for two to five years.
What we do know is that ocean going ships kill many whales every year, as the whales swim, migrate through shipping channels.
Whales are great creatures and thanks to everyday people from all around the world have saved hundred/thousands of stranded whales.
Tammy
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